November

11/29/97

Anyone who has been following the saga of my truck [Chet] since the onset of
the rainy season will be happy to know I finally got a knob for my defroster today. This knob has
become the symbol of my intertia for
months now as I have endured foggy
windows and cold road trips because of a $2 part.

Today is Buy Nothing
Day. I am at home, buying nothing. Come by if you want
a turkey sandwich.

It's the day after Thanksgiving and I got to
sleep until
nearly nine until the barber
called and said she didn't have any heat. Folks
who keep saying they would love to have my job should examine how they feel
about sleep and free time...

Thanksgiving itself went
really well. Jack cooked a 22
pound turkey
which cost an unbelievable $7.50. I made scalloped potatoes, herb &
cheese biscuits,
bought some ice cream [Cool Brittania and BuzzBuzzBuzz] and opened a
container of hummus. Folks brought food, beer, wine and dogs, and nearly
everyone helped clean up. I ended the day eating turkey sandwiches and
watching Thin Blue Line and
Calendar,
both of which were amazing movies.

I got to listen to people say things like "...moving in a direction that
will tell us where we need to be..." and "...dynamic opportunities
for
change and growth in our environment..." despite the fact that the
clinic is a bit over budget [am I not supposed to mention that? I can't
remember cuz I was too busy enjoying my vegan tortellini at the new member
orientation] which was one of the things we were retreating to deal with.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Last night I got a free ride home from Belltown from a taxi driver who
looked like Bono. He was heading to Ballard because his chances of getting
a fare there were higher and he just stopped at the bus stop where I was
freezing my ass off and asked if I wanted a free ride to Ballard.He
showed me the freaky on-board taxi computer and told me how since he and
his girlfriend got back from Spain, he's wanted to avoid having a nine to
five job. He writes poetry in his spare time.

me: hello?
caller[whispering]: hi. did I
wake
you?
me: of course. who is this?
caller: guess.
me: I don't know.
caller: [unintelligible, might have
been Ari]
me: Ari?
caller: yeah.
me: what's up [a bit concerned]
caller: I had a dream about you.
me: yeah?
caller: it was an erotic dream
me: oh?
caller: is that bad?
me: no, why?
caller: do you dream about me?
me: sometimes.
caller: are they erotic dreams?
me:
no, I don't think so
[keep in mind it's five am and I'm just realizing that this might be
getting
weird, but Ari and I might plausibly have this conversation in the middle of
the night, so I'm game]
caller: are you horny?
me:
no.
caller: do you want me to make you
horny?
me:
prove to me that this is Ari.
caller: gotta go

>click<

11/18/97

Barbie is getting a new
look. This is
not a pop culture column so I won't go on at length about this except to say
that theoretically this new look is to make Barbie a
bit more HWP [as opposed to the 39-18-33
waspish weirdo she now is]. I went
to the Barbie
web site for more info and did not find any news about this new look [I
think she's still going to have eyes that are bigger than her ears], but I
did get to explore the Ethnic Barbie section,
prompting me to email Barbie tech support: "how does Thai Barbie
perform her traditional dance when she can't stand up except on tiptoe?"

Q. My BarbieŽ doll didn't come with panties. Are they missing?
No. Only a BarbieŽ doll wearing a short skirt comes with
panties. Some collector dolls also wear underwear. All dolls
without cloth panties have molded-on panties.

Boy did I miss my computer! For those of you who argue that my attachment to
my computer [and corresponding Internet] is bad, sad, overly
geeky or somehow demented, I would like to take this time
to explain what it is that I do so you don't all think I'm just checking out
midget porn or something...

What I Did Today With My Computer
by
Jessamyn

updated this page

read email from friends who have moved away, new friends and complete
strangers, wrote back to most of them

Just got back from a whirlwind trip to Portland. My truck is now nicknamed
Chet. The Hall did not fall apart in my absence and seems to actually have
appreciated its newfound independence.

news flash!

At 7 PM on Thursday, November 12 attorneys for Stephen Dunifer &
Free
Radio Berkeley received a 14 page decision via fax from Federal District
Court Judge Claudia Wilken announcing her ruling in favor of Stephen
Dunifer and Free Radio Berkeley. Her ruling denies the FCC's motion for
summary judgement for a permanent injunction, states that she has
jurisdiction in this case and that the FCC's regulatory structure is
unconstitutional. Further, she orders the FCC to submit within 14 days a
brief on the constitutional issues raised. Essentially Judge Claudia
Wilken affirms all the merits and arguments raised by the defense
attorneys for Stephen Dunifer and Free Radio Berkeley.

11/13/97

Tuesday I took my truck into Precision Tune to get it
winterized. I had a coupon which had a
laundry list of about seven things
they would do. First of all, when I came back to pick up my truck, it was
exactly where I left it, bad sign. Turns
out they hadn't quite gotten to it
so I had to come back. When I came back, it was all set to go. They told me
I needed new wires, a cap and a
rotor which for them to do it would cost
about $110. I bought the parts for $30 and had my friend Billy do it in
exchange for some future cat-sitting. Score! Precision Tune also
forgot to rotate my tires so I had to bring the truck [which is
defying attempts to nickname it] back today
for them
to do that.

11/11/97

I have been waiting for my home page web
counter to register 5000 hits. This is since sometime in 1995 so it's
not like I'm really
popular or anything. I peek
at my homepage to see where the counter's
at and was considering offering some sort of prize to whoever hit the
page at exactly 5000. Of course,
it was me. My life is like this.

Actually, I'm pretty happy with all my jobs. The caretaker gig is sweet now
that the water's back on [two upcoming events, Thanksgiving potluck
and another Odd Stock 12/5]. The City wants to renew my contract
through next year, donating blood
can't be beat, and volunteering at Seattle Public Library is probably the
best way to work there.

11/7/97

Of all the money I've spent this month, 39% has been on friends [the party],
29% on beer, 25% on eating out and 6% on my house [which includes bus fare,
for some odd accounting reason that I've long since forgotten]. I have, so
far, spent no money on clothing,
food-shopping-food, drugs, movies, music
[the Geraldine Fibbers were free] books or travel. Every now and again
it's good to reaquaint myself with my home
accounting system so I can keep my
urge-to-spend in check.

I am cooking a yam.
My Joy of
Cooking says that I can, as an alternative,
use marshmallows to
top it instead of cheese. Then they say
"...depending on taste, or lack of taste." which I take as a
not-too-subtle jab at the trailer park set. Ouch!

Thanks for all your cards and letters, my water is now back on and I've even
cleaned up the incredible mess the plumbers made. That and hearing an Odd
Fellow say "fuck" were two of the highpoints of my day.

Welcome to this week's installment of Guess What Woke Me Up Today?
As you may recall if you spoke to me during my flu, last week's winners
were: the fire extinguisher inspector (8:30, in person) and my Vermont
caretaker, John (5:00, on the phone). Note, all times are in a.m..

Todays winner -- drumroll please -- Washington Electric Co-operative
[again
in Vermont] at 7:25! Apparently I forgot some piece of paperwork to have my
electricity turned on -- which might be a good way of getting revenge on
last week's winner...-- and need to fax it to them ASAP. At 7:30 in the
morning, I don't even know if I have a fax machine...

11/2/97

I just won tickets to see the Geraldine Fibbers on KCMU.
My cold has finally gone away to the point where I can contemplate leaving
the house at night. This, despite my having had a rather large Halloween
Party on Friday including such costumes as the Dental Nightmare, Guy with
Half a Suit [and a whole butt] and the Eight Foot Tall Penis. Wahoo.

During the extended dance remix of my convalescence, I saw Tank
Girl, a movie I liked just about as much as Party Girl,
but for different reasons. Quote from Tank Girl Web site "the thing
that really gets me wet is -- don't laugh -- fighting for what I believe
in". With an intro like that, I figured the punch line would have to be
something like "...saying
no to drugs" or some shit, but I thought that was
as cool as you can expect from an MGM web
site.